The laser system may include a delay circuit unit, first and second trigger-correction units, and a clock generator. The delay circuit unit may receive a trigger signal, output a first delay signal obtained by delaying the trigger signal by a first delay time, and output a second delay signal obtained by delaying the trigger signal by a second delay time. The first trigger-correction unit may receive the first delay signal and output a first switch signal obtained by delaying the first delay signal by a first correction time. The second trigger-correction unit may receive the second delay signal and output a second switch signal obtained by delaying the second delay signal by a second correction time. The clock generator may generate a clock signal that is common to the delay circuit unit and the first and second trigger-correction units.
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1. A laser system comprising: a delay circuit unit configured to receive a trigger signal, output a first delay signal representing that a first delay time has passed since the delay circuit unit received the trigger signal, and output a second delay signal representing that a second delay time has passed since the delay circuit unit received the trigger signal; a first trigger-correction unit configured to receive the first delay signal and output a first switch signal representing that a first correction time has passed since the first trigger-correction unit received the first delay signal; a second trigger-correction unit configured to receive the second delay signal and output a second switch signal representing that a second correction time has passed since the second trigger-correction unit received the second delay signal; a first laser apparatus including a first capacitor, a first charger configured to apply voltage to the first capacitor, a first switch configured to receive the first switch signal and allow the first capacitor to output a pulse current, a first magnetic compression circuit configured to compress the pulse current outputted from the first capacitor, a first chamber containing laser gas, a first pair of discharge electrodes provided in the first chamber and connected to the first magnetic compression circuit, and a first discharge timing detector configured to detect discharge between the first pair of discharge electrodes and output a first discharge detection signal; a second laser apparatus including a second capacitor, a second charger configured to apply voltage to the second capacitor, a second switch configured to receive the second switch signal and allow the second capacitor to output a pulse current, a second magnetic compression circuit configured to compress the pulse current outputted from the second capacitor, a second chamber containing laser gas, a second pair of discharge electrodes provided in the second chamber and connected to the second magnetic compression circuit, and a second discharge timing detector configured to detect discharge between the second pair of discharge electrodes and output a second discharge detection signal; and a clock generator configured to generate a clock signal that is common to the delay circuit unit, the first trigger-correction unit and the second trigger-correction unit, wherein the first trigger-correction unit receives the first discharge detection signal and sets the first correction time so that a first elapsed time between a timing of receiving the first delay signal and a timing of receiving the first discharge detection signal approaches a first target value, and the second trigger-correction unit receives the second discharge detection signal and sets the second correction time so that a second elapsed time between a timing of receiving the second delay signal and a timing of receiving the second discharge detection signal approaches a second target value.
A laser system synchronizes two pulsed lasers using timing correction. A delay circuit receives a trigger signal and outputs two delayed signals, one delayed by a first time and the other by a second time. A first trigger-correction unit receives the first delayed signal and outputs a first switch signal after a first correction time. A second trigger-correction unit does the same with the second delayed signal and a second correction time, generating a second switch signal. These switch signals control two laser apparatuses. Each apparatus includes a capacitor charged by a charger, a switch, a magnetic compression circuit, a laser gas chamber with discharge electrodes, and a discharge detector. A clock generator provides a common timing signal to the delay circuit and trigger-correction units. The trigger-correction units adjust their correction times based on feedback from the discharge detectors to ensure accurate synchronization of laser pulses relative to the initial trigger.
2. The laser system according to claim 1 , wherein the first trigger-correction unit is configured to further perform receiving a setting value of voltage to be applied to the first capacitor by the first charger, a first setting to set the first correction time based on the setting value of the voltage, and a second setting to set the first correction time based on the first elapsed time.
The laser system described previously includes a first trigger-correction unit which fine-tunes the first correction time based on two factors: The voltage setting applied to the first capacitor by the first charger, performing a first setting to set the first correction time based on the setting value of the voltage, and a second setting to set the first correction time based on the elapsed time between receiving the first delay signal and detecting the first discharge. Thus, the system actively adjusts the laser timing based both on initial capacitor voltage and real-time feedback from laser discharge.
3. The laser system according to claim 2 , wherein the first trigger-correction unit is configured to perform the first setting at a first frequency, and the second setting at a second frequency lower than the first frequency.
The laser system from the previous description further refines its trigger correction process by updating the correction time at two different frequencies. The first trigger-correction unit adjusts the first correction time based on the voltage applied to the first capacitor at a first frequency and adjusts the first correction time based on the elapsed time between receiving the first delay signal and detecting the first discharge at a second frequency. The second frequency is lower than the first frequency, meaning that the voltage setting is used for a coarse and frequent correction, while the laser discharge feedback is used for a slower, finer adjustment.
4. The laser system according to claim 1 , wherein the first laser apparatus includes a first oscillator configured to receive the first switch signal and generate a first pulse laser beam, and a first power amplifier configured to amplify the first pulse laser beam, and the second laser apparatus includes a second oscillator configured to receive the second switch signal and generate a second pulse laser beam, and a second power amplifier configured to amplify the second pulse laser beam.
In the described laser system, the first and second laser apparatuses each contain an oscillator and a power amplifier. The first oscillator receives the first switch signal and generates a first pulse laser beam which is then amplified by the first power amplifier. Similarly, the second oscillator receives the second switch signal and generates a second pulse laser beam which is then amplified by the second power amplifier. Thus, the system employs a master oscillator power amplifier (MOPA) configuration for each laser.
5. The laser system according to claim 4 , wherein the first trigger-correction unit is configured to further output a first amplifier switch signal representing that a first set amount of time has passed since the first trigger-correction unit received the first delay signal, the first oscillator includes the first capacitor, the first charger, the first switch, the first magnetic compression circuit, the first chamber, the first pair of discharge electrodes, and the first discharge timing detector, the first power amplifier includes a third capacitor, a third charger configured to apply voltage to the third capacitor, a third switch configured to receive the first amplifier switch signal and allow the third capacitor to output a pulse current, a third magnetic compression circuit configured to compress the pulse current outputted from the third capacitor, a third chamber containing laser gas, a third pair of discharge electrodes provided in the third chamber and connected to the third magnetic compression circuit, and a third discharge timing detector configured to detect discharge between the third pair of discharge electrodes and output a first amplifier discharge detection signal, and the first trigger-correction unit is configured to further receive the first discharge detection signal and the first amplifier discharge detection signal and set the first set amount of time so that time lag from a timing of receiving the first discharge detection signal until a timing of receiving the first amplifier discharge detection signal approaches a third target value.
Within the described laser system containing oscillator and power amplifier pairs, the first trigger-correction unit outputs an amplifier switch signal a set time after receiving the first delay signal. The first oscillator contains a capacitor, charger, switch, magnetic compression circuit, laser gas chamber, discharge electrodes, and discharge detector. The first power amplifier contains a third capacitor, charger, switch, magnetic compression circuit, laser gas chamber, discharge electrodes, and discharge detector which produces an amplifier discharge detection signal. The first trigger-correction unit receives both the oscillator's discharge signal and the amplifier's discharge signal and adjusts the set amount of time (amplifier switch signal) to reduce the time lag between the oscillator discharge and the amplifier discharge, aiming for a third target value.
6. The laser system according to claim 1 , further comprising: a beam bundling device configured to bundle the pulse laser beam emitted from the first laser apparatus and the pulse laser beam emitted from the second laser apparatus and to emit a bundled laser beam; and a pulse waveform measuring device configured to measure a pulse waveform of the bundled laser beam.
The laser system also has a beam bundling device that combines the laser pulses from the first and second laser apparatuses into a single bundled laser beam. The system incorporates a pulse waveform measuring device to analyze the pulse shape of the bundled laser beam, providing feedback on the synchronization and quality of the combined beam.
7. The laser system according to claim 6 , wherein the delay circuit unit is configured to set the first delay time and the second delay time based on the pulse waveform measured by the pulse waveform measuring device.
Within the bundled laser beam system, the delay circuit unit adjusts the first and second delay times based on the pulse waveform measured by the pulse waveform measuring device. This feedback loop enables the system to actively compensate for timing differences between the two lasers to optimize the pulse characteristics of the combined output.
8. The laser system according to claim 7 , further comprising an optical path length adjuster configured to adjust a first optical path length from the light-emitting position of the first laser apparatus to the light-emitting position of the beam bundling device and adjust a second optical path length from the light-emitting position of the second laser apparatus to the light-emitting position of the beam bundling device, so as to reduce difference between the first optical path length and the second optical path length, wherein the first target value and the second target value are substantially the same with each other.
This laser system with beam bundling includes an optical path length adjuster that minimizes the difference in the optical path lengths from each laser apparatus to the beam bundling device. This reduces timing errors due to path length differences and ensures precise alignment. The first and second target values for the timing correction are set to be substantially the same, aiming for synchronous pulses at the beam combiner.
9. A laser system comprising: a first laser apparatus including a first delay circuit unit configured to receive a trigger signal and output a first delay signal representing that a first delay time has passed since the first delay circuit unit received the trigger signal, a first trigger-correction unit configured to receive the first delay signal and output a first switch signal representing that a first correction time has passed since the first trigger-correction unit received the first delay signal, a first clock generator configured to generate a clock signal that is common to the first delay circuit unit and the first trigger-correction unit, a first capacitor, a first charger configured to apply voltage to the first capacitor, a first switch configured to receive the first switch signal and allow the first capacitor to output a pulse current, a first magnetic compression circuit configured to compress the pulse current outputted from the first capacitor, a first chamber containing laser gas, a first pair of discharge electrodes provided in the first chamber and connected to the first magnetic compression circuit, and a first discharge timing detector configured to detect discharge between the first pair of discharge electrodes and output a first discharge detection signal; and a second laser apparatus including a second delay circuit unit configured to receive the trigger signal and output a second delay signal representing that a second delay time has passed since the second delay circuit unit received the trigger signal, a second trigger-correction unit configured to receive the second delay signal and output a second switch signal representing that a second correction time has passed since the second trigger-correction unit received the second delay signal, a second clock generator configured to generate a clock signal that is common to the second delay circuit unit and the second trigger-correction unit, a second capacitor, a second charger configured to apply voltage to the second capacitor, a second switch configured to receive the second switch signal and allow the second capacitor to output a pulse current, a second magnetic compression circuit configured to compress the pulse current outputted from the second capacitor, a second chamber containing laser gas, a second pair of discharge electrodes provided in the second chamber and connected to the second magnetic compression circuit, and a second discharge timing detector configured to detect discharge between the second pair of discharge electrodes and output a second discharge detection signal, wherein the first trigger-correction unit receives the first discharge detection signal and sets the first correction time so that a first elapsed time between a timing of receiving the first delay signal and a timing of receiving the first discharge detection signal approaches a first target value, and the second trigger-correction unit receives the second discharge detection signal and sets the second correction time so that a second elapsed time between a timing of receiving the second delay signal and a timing of receiving the second discharge detection signal approaches a second target value.
This laser system has two laser apparatuses, each with its own timing control. The first laser apparatus has a delay circuit, trigger-correction unit, and clock generator. The delay circuit receives a trigger and outputs a delayed signal. The trigger-correction unit receives the delayed signal and outputs a switch signal. The clock generator provides a common timing signal to both. The first laser also includes a capacitor, charger, switch, magnetic compression circuit, laser gas chamber with discharge electrodes, and a discharge detector. The second laser apparatus has similar components: a delay circuit, trigger-correction unit, clock generator, capacitor, charger, switch, magnetic compression circuit, laser gas chamber with discharge electrodes, and discharge detector. Both trigger-correction units adjust their correction times based on feedback from the laser's discharge detectors, trying to match target values, for synchronized pulses.
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November 17, 2016
October 31, 2017
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